


Here's To Us (Here's To Love)

by FiresFromOurHearts



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 as Family (Naruto), Found Family, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Gentle, Hope, I cannot tell you how much Team 7 love each other, Loneliness, Love, Team as Family, The inherent quiet of the darkness at night, lonely Team 7, so so much love, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28720518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiresFromOurHearts/pseuds/FiresFromOurHearts
Summary: In this world, Team 7 does not fall apart, fracturing and spiralling downwards in chaos and fire. Maybe it’s because this world is a little bit more lonely, the people a little further apart, the silence a little bit louder. Maybe it’s because Sasuke lost his clan and the ghosts watched over him as he shook and cried and fell apart alone. Maybe it’s because Naruto came home to a silent apartment and spoke to his plants like they were his family, and they watched as he tried to fill the gaps around him and always, always failed. Maybe it’s because Sakura dared to try and reached out, fiercely, desperately, and left behind her family in doing so.Team 7 is a little bit more lonely, their lives a little less harsh, and they are a team. They will remain a team, no matter what comes.(A short fic on Team 7's friendship and love as it could've been. How their family began and how it continues on after everything.)
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 79
Collections: Genuary 2021





	Here's To Us (Here's To Love)

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Halestorm's song Here's To Us.

The day before teams are assigned, Haruno Sakura finds herself standing in a civilian park. It’s dark out, the streetlights had flickered on a few hours ago. The majority of civilians have all returned home so that the district is rather quiet, which is what Sakura should expect. After all, she lives in a civilian district. The district in question likes to dress itself up as being better than it really is, so the park is all carefully cut and kept. It feels rather impersonal, more than anything else. It feels carefully structured—far from the Academy grounds with its numerous craters and ditches and broken branches.

None of that, however, is on Sakura’s mind. Instead, she’s sitting in the fork of a tree with the leaves around her swaying gently in the breeze. She rests her head against the trunk, the bark hard and rough, and looks up at the sky.

There aren’t many stars out tonight, slightly overcast as it is. Instead, grey shadows decorate the sky with pinpricks of light glancing between them. The moon is hidden too, but its glow from behind the clouds can clearly been seen. Sakura stares up at it and hopes, hopes that she’ll have a good genin team. She knows that the odds are against her, civilian-born as she is. The proportion of civilian-born ninjas is depressingly low in the whole Ninja Corps, and it only decreases with each higher rank.

In fact, in her graduating year, Sakura’s the only civilian-born to be placed on a team. There are two others who passed the exam and will go into the field, but they’ve been placed into apprenticeships with various ninja areas. One has been taken into the hospital, specifically focussing on the research and development areas—an area primarily known among civilian-born ninjas as one that goes through assistants at a rapid rate. The other has entered the tracking division, if Sakura remembers correctly, with a potential specification as a scout. Scouting is a rather tough position simply because a number of Konoha’s clans specialise in it. It’s likely that both of civilian-borns will find themselves washed up into the Genin Corps, where they’ll complete their mandatory years before retiring.

Sakura knows the statistics, both from her own research but also because she’s reached out to others like her—working to be a ninja despite the odds. And, despite knowing what’s against her, Sakura refuses to back down. There’s something in her that tells her she can do this. She wants to be a ninja, wants it more than any civilian career that she could work towards instead. She _will_ be a ninja.

This is the first step. She’s on a team, somehow, despite the odds. Her academic scores are top of her cohort and near some of the highest in the history of the Academy, though her physical scores leave a lot to be desired. Her physical scores, however, aren’t really her fault technically. Unlike the clan children or even those with ninja parents, she has no knowledge to work off on how to fight aside from what the Academy teaches her. She knows the basics of exercise, the Academy katas, but nothing else.

History and past records show that students at the top of their cohort usually end up paired with the worst graduating student put into the team grouping. Thus, it makes sense that Sakura will likely be paired with Uchiha Sasuke, top shinobi, and the lowest graduating student—Inuzuka Kiba, from memory. Of course, that’s only if Sakura’s exam scores edge out Ino, and there’s a chance Sakura’s once-friend managed to show Sakura up last minute. It wouldn’t be surprising though it would be extremely irritating.

“I’m going to get there,” Sakura tells the world of silence around her. There’s no one around to listen to her promises, no one but herself to make sure she keeps her word. “I’m going to move up beyond the Genin Corps. I’m going to make sure…” She trails off and closes her eyes, pressing her palms against her eyes. The words are resting on her tongue, heavy, but Sakura doesn’t know if she’s ready to say the words aloud. Not yet.

* * *

Nearby, but not that close, there is a broken-down district that holds more ruined buildings than people. It sits in the outskirts of Konoha, caught on the edge of the civilian district, the red district, and Konoha’s great walls. It had been one of the districts worst hit when the Kyūbi had attacked, and so had largely been left to fall to ruin, abandoned except by the poorest. Even then, much of the time the people living there were homeless.

One person of importance lives here, though few his age know how important he actually is. Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto sits on the ceiling of his apartment building. It’s not really _his_ technically, but he’s the only one that lives there. He’s the one who’s turned much of the roof into a garden, the one who has made sure that nothing leaks, and the one who deals with much of repairs when people break in to damage sections, usually around the celebration of the Kyūbi’s vanquishing.

Once upon a time, Naruto had argued he shouldn’t be responsible for fixing what he didn’t break, but his landlord had told him to do so or he’d find himself out of the streets. And that was not an experience that Naruto’s eager to relive anytime soon.

None of that matters now, however. He’s going to be a ninja! He’s going to earn a pay check that’s bigger than his stipend, save up some more, and move out of this district and into an apartment that has a heating system and good water pressure and doesn’t require one person to look after the entire building. More importantly, Naruto’s going to make friends and people are going to look at him. _See_ him.

He’ll be told what team he’s in tomorrow. He has no idea who he’ll be put with. There are a few classmates he wouldn’t mind working alongside, though he doesn’t know whether he will get to. Shikamaru, who’d mentioned the topic once when Naruto had pestered him enough about it, had said that it was unlikely they’d be on the same team but hadn’t spoken about it anymore. Getting Shikamaru to actively engage with topics is a challenge and so Naruto had taken the information as the gift it was and left Shikamaru to his napping or whatever it is he did with his time in the Academy.

“Tomorrow,” Naruto tells his tomato plant. He can see the green leaves, the proud curl of the stem, but with the dim light of the moon and stars, he can’t make out any sign of growing tomatoes. There had been green ones there when he’d last checked and none of his other plants are showing sign of birds feeding off the fruit, so Naruto hopes that they’re growing well. “Tomorrow I’m going to be a genin.”

There’s no breeze on the rooftop tonight, but Naruto likes to think that the plant is dancing in excitement for him. However, it could just be his imagination. He collapses backwards, lying on his back to stare up at the sky. Leaves encircle the sky and reminds him of Konoha.

“I’m going to be a ninja,” Naruto says to the world because he has no one else to tell. The night is silent as it always is, but it’s comforting to Naruto. It always has been. Silence is frequently his closest friend, his constant companion, and a lot of people probably think Naruto is too noisy and loud, but he knows how to fill silence so it isn’t so overbearing.

From behind the clouds, the moon appears and Naruto feels like it’s staring down at him. It feels like an omen. It feels like a possibility. It feels like hope.

He can’t _wait_ for tomorrow!

* * *

On almost the opposite side of Konoha, a boy keeps his eyes firmly closed and remains in the darkness of his bedroom. He should be sleeping. He wants to be sleeping. He has a routine that he likes to stick to, but it has failed him tonight.

The excitement and worry of what tomorrow brings sits heavy on his chest, makes it challenging to breathe. Still, he keeps breathing regardless, hardly knows how to do anything else. His mind is torn two different ways. On one hand, he is eager to take the next step in his career and work towards his goals. On the other hand, there will be no one to celebrate his success with, no one to ruffle his hair and tell him he’s done well, no one to train with and teach him new tricks.

The Uchiha library waits for him, scrolls and books made just for the Uchiha. Sasuke will go through them, will learn from them, and do his best to honour his clan in the only way he can. He will learn the ways of the Uchiha Clan, the things that should have been taught to him by his family. And the Uchiha teachings will live on with him, and so the Uchiha Clan will not be forgotten.

Eyes firmly closed, Sasuke does not speak, does not move. He just lays in bed, still and silent. That does not, however, mean his mind isn’t going a mile a minute. Thoughts whirl ceaselessly in his head, circling and circling and circling. He’s afraid of what comes next, excited by it, and- and he’s going to have a team.

Konoha preaches about teams, preaches about teamwork, and says that it’s one of the most important things in Konoha. Sasuke’s not sure how he feels about that. On one hand, teams are meant to help you, lift you up, _be there_. On the other hand, teams frequently fall apart once they’re no longer genins and, in the case they do stay together, most teams messily break apart—such as the sannins.

Regardless, Sasuke should be thinking about his goal, thinking about Itachi and how this is bringing him a step closer to getting revenge. Except, he can’t help but think what a team might be like, what a team might bring. The idea of comfort, of familiarity, of companionship is such a strange idea; he’s been alone for so long now.

Then he remembers that his team will consist of two others from his cohort. He could deal with maybe one or two of them, but he already knows they won’t end up on the same team as him. He’s checked the Uchiha records for graduating years. Whilst there’s no holding pattern for Uchiha students, many of the other clans get paired with their allied clans, and so there’s a high chance that Sasuke won’t get paired with those he finds easiest to get along with. In which case, he’ll just have to prove himself enough to secure an apprenticeship or get an early promotion. Both are possible—he’s an Uchiha after all.

Still, the idea that he’ll get a team tomorrow, the idea that he’ll be an actual ninja tomorrow… It makes him feel light. Makes him feel like something he hasn’t felt in a long, long time.

Hope.

* * *

On every form, on every file, on every slip of paper—Team Seven should not succeed. They are put together for a few reasons. One is because of their teacher. Hatake Kakashi has the Sharingan and therefore _must_ train Sasuke and is perhaps uniquely positioned to deal with this so-called genius; plus, he can also take care of the Kyūbi should the need arise, hence Naruto. Then, having the best and last students placed together, it only makes sense that Sakura should form the last member of their team.

Individually, they are well placed and have much to be taught by Kakashi. In practice, there’s a very low chance of the trio getting along and actually working as a team. Far more likely, the team will be broken apart and still taught—Naruto and Sasuke ascending to higher positions while Sakura completes her mandatory years before retiring.

Maybe… Maybe in one world that would happen. Maybe things would go disastrous and the team would almost pull together only to spiral and fracture apart. Or maybe the team would be ruined from the beginning, failing to even make it to genin rank.

In this world, that doesn’t happen. Maybe it’s because this world is a little bit more lonely, the people a little further apart, the silence a little bit louder. Maybe it’s because Sasuke lost his clan and the ghosts watched over him as he shook and cried and fell apart alone. Maybe it’s because Naruto came home to a silent apartment and spoke to his plants like they were his family, and they watched as he tried to fill the gaps around him and always, always failed. Maybe it’s because Sakura dared to try and reached out, fiercely, desperately, and left behind her family in doing so.

Maybe the world’s an awful, awful place and kids just want to have someone stand by them, someone to stand with; a friend.

In this world, Sakura and Naruto and Sasuke stare at each other in silence, but they have worked alongside one another in class. They know each other, barely, only faces in one another’s peripherals but they know each other’s names. They don’t know each other’s hobbies or personalities or favourite things, not yet at least. They don’t know that each of them wants, wishes, for a team that will stand by them like Konoha preaches. They only know that this is the first step to being a real ninja.

This is the first team they have. This is the first time they have teammates. This is the first time they look at each other and think _what if you’re more than I see?_

In most worlds, including this, Kakashi is late. That does not change things here—the trio decide to change things, decide to step forward, decide to band together not in complaining but as teammates. It is Naruto who offers his hand first, foolishly hopeful in the best kind of way, introducing himself with a large grin.

And Sakura takes it, dreaming of big things, dreaming of being more, and introduces herself in response. Together, they turn to Sasuke, bound as teammates and hoping to actually be a team and more. Sasuke, lonely, aching, grieving Sasuke, stares at them and introduces himself. It’s good manners, he tells himself. He wants this, he does not tell himself. He knows it to be true regardless.

When Kakashi comes late, it’s to a team already beginning to come together. It’s to a team that’s not the carbon copy of a previous team. It’s to a team that’s naïve and hopeful and not wrong to be so. It’s to a team that refuses to let the world tear them down and leave them as husks of what they had been.

Or maybe the world did that. Maybe the world broke them to pieces and left them as broken husks of someone who had once existed, but they grew again. The rain stormed down and the husk filled up and green tendrils rose in the aftermath. Because this is the way of the world—things die, get broken, and something new eventually forms, eventually grows, because there’s never really an end.

This does not change Kakashi, not yet. Kakashi only stares them down, threatens them and warns them and grimly swears that they will die. Sasuke does not think about ghosts or revenge or the blood of a clan massacred, but of smiles and this idea that _this could be more_. Sakura does not think about boys or perfume or diets, but of being more and the knowledge that _they could be great_. Naruto does not think about the eyes that look away from him or the emptiness of an apartment, but of teams and the possibility of _being a team_.

Alright Kakashi, threaten Team Seven and see how they respond. They are children, hopeless and hopeful and stubborn and grieving and all so many things. They will not be tied down to one aspect, to one word, to one idea. They are far, far more than you could ever dream them to be. Ignore the isolation pressing down on your shoulders, accept your own whispered self-hatred, believe the harsh rumours you hear. Continue pretending that you don’t feel the possibility of something greater, of something more, of something _good_. It won’t last long.

* * *

They become genins, one way or another, and Kakashi talks about teamwork. And they see the ties offered, the hands held out, and they hold on fiercely like they can hardly do anything else. Already, so young and so hurt, they know how quickly a storm can come, how quickly ties can be broken and people pulled apart, how easily a person can disappear.

Already they know what has not been said: they are Team Seven until they die.

Sakura and Sasuke arrive early and Naruto arrives almost on time and Kakashi will not be there for hours. This does not mean they sit around and ignore one another. Sakura wants to be more, knows how the system works against her. Naruto sees the gaps around him disappear slowly and still wants to more, wants to do more, wants to be seen. Sasuke hears the ghosts at his back and let’s their voices wash over him, and stands beside his team because he doesn’t know how to do anything else.

They train, together and apart and offering advice. Sakura pulls out books and shows Naruto and Sasuke and Sasuke opens up the Uchiha Library to her and Naruto opens up his apartment and they spend hours and hours in the garden. Sasuke teaches them things that had once been Uchiha-only because there’s no way to keep a dying clan from dying except to pass on the knowledge until everyone knows it. Naruto shows what he’s learnt over the years, how to slide from the shadows into the light and how to smile and play a trick and how to say one thing and mean another.

This is Team Seven as it could’ve been: together.

In the end, they are all lonely, lonely children. Sasuke and Naruto have been without contact for so long and Sakura has split away from her parents with the knowledge of what she wants and what her parents want and how incompatible they are. In the end, Sakura leaves her house with a well-packed duffle swung over her shoulder and finds herself standing in front of Naruto’s breaking-down, well loved apartment building.

Naruto invites her inside, soft but without saying a single thing. It takes some of the weight from Sakura, eases the tension trickling along her spine, the heaviness on her shoulders. The apartment is quiet and the plants watch, leaves heavy and stems thick, and Sakura breathes out. It smells of plants and dirt and Naruto—all good things. This is home, almost.

Almost because home is also the place where Sakura has a bedroom with pale pink walls and the bookshelves tower above her. Home is the place where Sakura once broke a glass and her mother carefully picked up the shards and kissed her forehead. Home is the place where an iris grows that Ino gifted her many years ago. Home is the place where Sakura’s father once spun her around and around until they were both too dizzy to stand and could only laugh helplessly on the floor. Home is a place she has left behind.

Home is also a place she will find again, will grow into. Home is a broken-down apartment, leafy green trees, bookshelves that soar towards the sky open to the world, the gentle warmth of the Uchiha Clan Compound, the gaze of her teammates as she falls down, the hands she grasps as she stands up again.

“C’mon,” Naruto says, taking her hand gently and tugging her out of the apartment and up the rickety stairs. They skip over the fourth one which is rotten through and will break beneath your foot, leaping onto the fifth and hoping up on one leg for a whole flight of stairs. Naruto pulls a face at her and Sakura laughs, before flipping onto her hands and walking up the next flight of stairs that way. She makes it to the top before Naruto, and manages to grab his top just as he begins to fall backward.

They reach the top of the building in laughter and Sakura feels so light she could float away. Surrounded by Naruto’s plants, they lie down in the sun. Sakura breathes, her chest rising and falling and she feels like she could do anything, be anything. Beside her, Naruto stares up at the sky, heart pounding, and doesn’t know how life could get better than this.

Then, the sound of footsteps on old floorboards and a shadow blocks the light. Sasuke stares down at them, silent and almost stern, but there’s something soft in the set of his eyes, the way his shoulders are low and loose. “Hey,” he says, voice not quite breaking the silence. It’s too soft, too gentle, and the silence isn’t overbearing.

It never is anymore.

Sakura rises, crossing her legs and sitting down with her back to one of the plant boxes. “Hey,” she echoes. It seems like she left her parents’ house forever ago, took only her bag and the memories of too many arguments and familiar uncomfortable dinners. It had only been an hour or so ago, but the memories are already fading. How could they do otherwise surrounded by her team as she is?

Yawning, Naruto sits across from her and makes grabby hands at the white plastic containers Sasuke holds. “Share the food!!”

Sasuke hands it to Sakura, fingers brushing. “It’s not for you,” he says with an obviously fake sneer. “It’s for my favourite teammate.” Naruto gasps, raising a hand to his heart, and Sasuke rolls his eyes, trying and failing to hold back a smile.

Smiling at the pair of them, Sakura splits up the food evenly. Sasuke had made them food, as he frequently did on the final day of the week. It’s a mix of her favourites with tomatoes added, along with a side dish that Naruto is particularly partial too.

When the meal has been finished, the containers carefully stacked and placed back in the plastic bag to be washed later. “Are you alright?” Sasuke adds as the night falls and shadows stick to their skin. It feels safer to talk about things like this in the darkness, it’s easier to be vulnerable somehow. They are ninjas, they know the darkness isn’t safe, and yet…

Sakura pauses and considers her answer. There’s sadness, yes, and perhaps guilt too, but—far more strongly—her heart pounds in the back of her head accompanied by one thought, one idea, one belief. She smiles, and it comes easy. “Yes,” she says, reaching out and tangling their hands together. On her other side, Naruto lays his head on her shoulder. “I am. And even if I wasn’t, I will be in time.”

Sasuke nods and doesn’t withdraw, just leans against her side. It’s Naruto who next breaks the silence, asking, “Where do you plan to go?” It’s not something any of them have asked of each other, only knowing that they were going together.

“Ahead,” Sakura says, squeezing Sasuke’s hand as she looks up to the stars. They shine so clearly down from above, pinpricks of light darting through the sky just for them. “I’m going to defy the odds and break the statistics and be important. I’m going to matter.”

Sasuke breathes out slowly, shakily. He feels the same desire in his soul, his heart pounding in his ears, the world around him remains steady even as he shakes and shakes and shakes. “Yeah,” he says, speaking with a dry throat. He swallows. “I want to be remembered. I want to be known. I want- want things to be _good_.”

Naruto flops across Sakura’s lap so that his head rests in Sasuke’s lap, startling the other. “Together,” he says, the word a promise only they are here to hear. “We’re going to matter.”

They’re only genin, unimportant for the most part and only a month out of the Academy. But they’re Team Seven and determined and hopeful and they’re sure as hell not about to let anything get in their way. Together, they’re going to shout to the world that they were here. That they matter. They’re going to reach out and hold tight to one another and run through the forest, run through the sea, run through the desert, and never ever stop.

This is Team Seven in all their glory—together as teammates, as friends, as family. Together until the end, and then beyond.

* * *

In the future, but not that far in the future, there will grow to be a legend of three ninjas. Ninjas who formed a team like none before them because this is not a team that was torn apart by war or some other problem, nor did it fracture and fall to pieces. With every struggle they came across, with every problem that arose before them, they only strengthened their bonds and continued on.

This is the team that fought legends when they were only genins and came out alive, _alive_ and grinning and baring their teeth at the world. This is the team that said they were more and they were good and they were going to be great. And they were.

From Team Seven, grew a legend. From Team Seven, grew a name. From Team Seven, grew friendship and that is the only part that mattered to them in the end.

* * *

Sakura sits in a tree and stares up at the sky, head resting on the rough bark. The world is still and silent around her, the leaves barely moving in what little breeze there is. Above, the stars are scattered by the clouds, the moon a distant haloed circle.

From below her, there’s a grumble and a thump and another head appears, before a shadowed figure joins her in the tree. Sasuke glares at her, all grumpy with pillow creases still on his face, but he reaches out and she smiles gripping his hand. The tree shakes as a third body joins them, and Naruto appears, grinning. There’s chalk dust caught on his clothing and Sakura’s certain that he’s been up to something, probably playing a prank on Kakashi. He looks wide awake as if the night has no effect on him.

“Hey,” Naruto says, settling in a fork just below her, he leans back against her hanging legs. She smiles down at him, using one foot to nudge his side, sending him squirming sideways as he tries to avoid laughing. “Stop that!”

Sakura leaves him be. “Hey,” she echoes, voice soft to match his. “Who were you tormenting?”

“Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto says promptly. “Dusted all of his kitchen benchtops with chalk dust.” Sasuke raises an eyebrow, waiting, and Sakura smiles as Naruto’s grin widens. They all know what’s coming. “And I also wrote on his ceiling that Team Seven is the best in chalk. Not sure how long it’ll take him to notice with all the chalk dust around as well.”

“I’ll bet for three days,” Sakura decides, “barring any mission time taken.”

Sasuke glances at her, then says, “A week. I have no faith.”

“I guess I’ll say five days to go right in between,” Naruto says.

They fall into silence. It surrounds them, resting comfortably on their shoulders. It’s a different thing to the silence of being alone, this is the silence of companionship, the silence of love, the silence of trust. Sakura doesn’t glance up at the sky, now, just stares at the people with her.

Eventually, Sasuke sighs and shifts so that he’s half-collapsed against the tree-trunk, looking very much like he’ll fall asleep in seconds. Still, he keeps his eyes focussed on Sakura and asks, “Are you alright?”

It’s a question they’ve asked each other countless times before. Both aloud and in silent gestures, and they’ve answered a thousand ways whether it be with words or quiet comfort or grand gestures.

For a heartbeat, Sakura thinks about it. It’s not anything bad that’s driven her out here in the middle of the night, only this idea that everything is so big and she’s full of so much love for her team that she could explode from it. They’re in their twenties now, moving away from their teens and into what should be the prime of their life. But they’ve already become legends, already explored the world, already lived full lives. There’s nothing to fear in what lies ahead, nothing about growing older at least.

“Yes,” she says, knowing that it’s true. “I am.”

Below her, Naruto smiles, eyes crinkling with the motion, and he looks so happy and so soft and Sakura can hardly believe how much she loves him. Sasuke, too, is there, all sleepy-soft and content and she loves him as much as she loves Naruto. They’re the ones who have stood beside her, stood with her, who vowed to be seen. They’re her team, in every meaning of the word.

“That’s good,” Naruto says. “I’m glad.” He shifts so that he’s crouching on the branch, then leaps upward, passing Sakura and Sasuke and onto another branch. Sasuke and Sakura exchange glances before they leap up and after him, adrenaline pulsing in their veins and laughter spilling from their lips. Like this, sleepiness is driven away but not the softness. The dim light of the stars shine down and the warmth of family envelop them.

This is their time—tonight and every following day. These are their lives, laughter and love and family.

They stop near the top of the tree, the branches dipping beneath their weight. Naruto’s not looking at the stars, as distant as they seem, instead he’s looking at something engraved into the tree. It’s just characters in a heart, but-

Sakura thinks of all the things she’s seen. Thinks about graffiti tags in small towns and big towns. Thinks about names written in wet cement. Thinks about names engraved in trees and desks and so many things. People have a million and one ways of saying _I was here, I was here, I was here_.

Sasuke hands her the kunai and Naruto grins. She draws slowly, the tip of the kunai digging into the bark and then past it. Eventually, as slow seconds pass, characters start forming. The last thing she draws is the heart. It’s a wonky thing, both the heart and the characters, but there’s something rewarding about so clearly claiming that they were here.

It feels right. They’ve changed the world, created legends, and no one will forget they existed. But this cements it, makes it unchangeable. They were here.

With Naruto and Sasuke by her side, Sakura smiles and knows that the world awaits all three of them. This is what they’ll have forever. This is Team Seven.

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially sparked by the idea of the graffiti I saw on my way to and from work along the train lines. Just so many things—phrases like ‘live fast, die punk’, ‘world shaker world shaker world shaker’, ‘live’, ‘love you’, ‘live life’, ‘thank you’. There are so many of these little things, even tags, just people saying that they’re here. 
> 
> A heart on a tree, names written in wet cement, a smiley face in a friend’s notebook. We have a million and one ways of saying I was here, pay attention to me, I was here, _I mattered._
> 
> I don’t know, I was just taken by this idea of Sakura being the embodiment of all of this—she just wants someone to see her as her; to know she was alive. But then there was also this intangible loneliness that I felt clasped to my back and that was how I planned to shift things around in this AU for Team Seven, but then it became less about all of that and I don’t even know. I also had a prompt about brief brushes of contact and my brain was shouting cuddle piles and we never got there, but the vibes are there for sure (I think? fuck if I know). Anyway, that’s all. 
> 
> There was so much love here Sakura has for her team and it's just so big and warm and I loved writing it. I hope you all enjoyed as well, feel free to comment or come find me on [tumblr](https://silent-silver-slip.tumblr.com/) if you want.


End file.
